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jmb667
Explorer
Sep 04, 2015

Teaching cats to travel?

My wife and I are (still) in the "do we want to do this?" stage of picking an RV (TT, 5er, motorhome...) and one of the deciding factors is whether the "kids" can come with us and how comfortable they'll be. We already have an F-350, so I'm leaning towards a TT or 5er, but my wife is leaning towards a motorhome of some kind.

We have two cats: a large tabby and a small Burmese. The Burmese likes traveling...on the way to the vet she comes out of her carrier and sits in the lap of whomever isn't driving, looks out the window, etc. The tabby, however, is a bit of a prima donna, and freaks out when he's in the carrier, even with the top open. He cries and whines the entire time.

I'm trying to decided if he just needs more (positive) travel exposure, or if he's truly at stay at home kitty. The Burmese could travel tomorrow and love it; she's obnoxious and has to be into everything, so she'd love it. It's the tabby we're really concerned about.

Any tips for "teaching" a cat to travel, or is this gonna be one of those personality things that there's no way around?

Thanks in advance for your insight!
  • After years of fostering and transporting multiple cats from adoption location to adoption location, I have learned that first and foremost there is NO one right way for a cat to travel. What works for one will be the worst thing for another.

    Some things to try:

    1. open the carrier vs. close the carrier (which you've already tried with no difference)
    2. raise the carrier so the cat can easily see out the windows vs. covering the carrier so the cat can't see any movement
    3. provide a small amount of dry food or treats vs. no food or treats during ride
    4. find a place to set the carrier where there is a steady vibration vs. no vibration
    5. turn on soothing music vs. no music
    6. learn to love the vocal skills of your cat
  • We're on the road in a Class A with two cats. We have large cages for them when the road is rough, but for the most part, they stay on the bed. If in the cages, we've learned which cry means "I gotta peeee!" and take care of it as soon as possible.

    When we stop for lunch, they get lunch and water, too. Then we make sure they pee before they're caged. Makes for a longer lunch stop, but with elderly cats, that pee break is a must.

    When we play the radio, it has to be country music, preferably all males singing, or one of the cats complains. The other could care less - he even likes my singing, and I'm a soprano. He's also 19 1/2 years old, so he probably doesn't really hear me that well...

    All that said, you have to be attuned to each cat's personality and work with it, but they'll travel just fine in the long run.
  • Our cats travel in the truck with us in carriers that are strapped down between the dog beds. Our two old boys were so bonded they had to be in the same carrier, but the two new girls want separate accommodations. At all times they travel to and from in their carriers.

    Since we have an elderly dog, we stop every couple of hours for pee breaks (canine and human) and the cats are let loose in the 5er to have a drink and a pee break if they want one.

    In the truck, Luna (longhaired tortie) fusses once or twice and then settles down for a nap. Lili (siamese) expresses her displeasure at regular intervals. (good thing I really love siamese!)

    Both cats treat the RV like home, and love the new channels on Cat TV when we stop.

    I am much happier now that we located a space behind a cabinet that had an outside access door and moved the litter box there. DH put a cat door into the side of the cabinet that we can close off when cleaning the litterbox and enclosed the area so they cats do not have access to the rest of the basement. The exterior hatch is locked at all times to prevent any accidental openings. I just have to be sure that there is not a cat *in* the litterbox when I close the cat door, otherwise, we both have a surprise when I open the hatch!
  • Our Cat loves to travel with us in the RV. We tried different modes of travel in the beginning, like traveling in a kennel by himself or riding in a kennel with the dog. In both of those scenarios, he needed a little catnip to calm him down, but he liked being close to his brother and with us. That worked for a long time. Now he has the run of the RV and loves to sleep on the bed, sit on my lap or watch vehicles go while sitting on the dash. He has complete access to his litter box and food. Works perfect for us...
  • We travel with 4 American Shorthairs, last year they logged over 17,000 miles with us. We removed the backseat of the truck and have a large cage with three levels. The 2 youngest ride in the top, the Old Guy, like 15, in the center, and the older Girl in the bottom. They all have a litter box, food, and water. So they travel in style. They all pretty much go to sleep and hardly make a sound. When we stop for a Pit Stop or Fuel Stop, quite often they will take the oportunity to use their litter box too.
  • Thanks for all the responses! We're renting a class-A this weekend to try it out and see if we like it before subjecting the kids to it, but I think that our prima-donna tabby will probably prefer that, since there's no in/out or back and forth between the truck and the TV.
  • jmb667 wrote:
    Thanks for all the responses! We're renting a class-A this weekend to try it out and see if we like it before subjecting the kids to it, but I think that our prima-donna tabby will probably prefer that, since there's no in/out or back and forth between the truck and the TV.

    If it has a slideout, make sure your feline family member is in her carrier before opening and operating it. Cats have been crushed and killed by accident when they weren't out of the way of the slideout operations.